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Articles by Christine Bader
Why this junior-golf trend is so troubling
One of the many reasons I embrace my son’s love of golf is that it is a screen-free zone for both of us. He just turned 13, and our time on course feels like the only respite when he’s neither glued to my iPad nor begging for his own phone. I relish those tech-free hours for myself, too. Which is why I’m disheartened by a recent trend in junior golf: tournaments requiring players as young as 12 to keep score live on their own smartphones. Seriously?
An Iconic Brand, but at What Cost?
Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism by Bartow J. Elmore, Norton, 2015 By all traditional metrics, Coca-Cola Company is one of the world’s most successful businesses: a century of growth, a market cap of more than US$181 billion, a truly global footprint, and one of the world’s most recognizable and valuable brands. But Bartow J. Elmore, an environmental historian at the University of Alabama, would have us believe that the company’s success is illusory.
How to quit without ruining your relationship with your current employ
Years ago, I was Amazon’s director of social responsibility, running a program auditing labor conditions in the factories that made Amazon’s branded products. The job was high-pressure, fast-paced, with endless opportunities for impact and growth—and endless opportunities for work, which eventually proved incompatible with the rest of my life. While plenty of people thrived in that environment, I witnessed many departures during my time there.
Opinion: This long-standing tenet of American capitalism must change — now
September 24, 2020 — Demands for racial justice, the global pandemic and ensuing recession, the chaos of U.S. presidential politics, and the growing urgency of the climate crisis are forcing companies to reckon with their role in society. The longstanding tenet of American capitalism that companies should focus on profit alone now seems woefully inadequate given the massive problems we face.
The role of Milton Friedman in training the next generation of business leaders
September 13th is the 50th anniversary of the seminal Milton Friedman article from The New York Times Magazine, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” This article is still a fixture on the syllabi of many members of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum, who teach in law, business, and humanities faculty at the undergraduate and graduate levels all over the world.
How to help shy kids through tough back-to-school season
We signed up my 7-year-old son for a socially distanced soccer camp, eager to give him some semblance of normalcy for the first time since our Oregon schools closed in mid-March. As we approached the field, though, he pulled my hand back and started crying. “I’m nervous to be around other kids,” he wailed. We spent that week as we have the previous 15: at home.
The Life I Want: Moments of Clarity
Cyrus Habib, pictured here with the Dalai Lama, decided not to seek reelection as Washington state’s lieutenant governor, and is joining the Jesuits. His moment of clarity came when he realized he was caught up in the celebrity culture of politics and asked himself: “What do I want it for? Would that make me happy?” Eva’s moment happened just after the website where she was an editor folded and she lost her job.
Perspective | How parents can help shy and introverted kids through a particularly tough back-to-school season
We signed up my 7-year-old son for a socially distanced soccer camp, eager to give him some semblance of normalcy for the first time since our Oregon schools closed in mid-March. As we approached the field, though, he pulled my hand back and started crying. “I’m nervous to be around other kids,” he wailed. “I just want to stay home with you.” We spent that week as we have the previous 15: at home.
“Will that make me happy?” Why a Rising Politician Is Joining the Jesuits: Cyrus Habib — The Life I Want
In April, Cyrus Habib decided not to seek reelection as lieutenant governor of Washington state in order to join the Society of Jesus, the largest order of priests and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church. He’ll move to a Jesuit novitiate in Southern California, where he’ll spend the next two years in prayer, service, and community.
Fixing Work Requires More Than Determination — The Life I Want
As Eva and I explore how to reimagine the future of work, we keep coming back to one central truth: Fixing work is not a D.I.Y. project. Yes, we need to seek clarity on what we want out of our careers and lives and do what we can to achieve our goals.
A Portrait of Modern Homelessness: Talking with Lauren Sandler
Lauren Sandler finished the first draft of This Is All I Got in 2017, one year after she completed the reporting for it — reporting that consisted of immersing herself in the life of a woman she calls Camila, a new mother whom she met at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. Then various factors conspired to delay the book’s publication: a busy editor, her imprint shutting down, transition time to a new publisher, the COVID-19 pandemic.
A ‘Life I Want’ tribute: Ken Bader
This post originally appeared on The Life I Want blog (with an audio version.) On August 24, my uncle Ken Bader, my dad’s youngest brother, died at age 70 of complications related to pancreatic cancer. As I’ve reflected on and learned more about his life in the weeks since his passing, I realized how much Ken embodied what we’re after in The Life I Want.
A 'Life I Want' tribute: Ken Bader — The Life I Want
On August 24, my uncle Ken Bader, my dad’s youngest brother, died at age 70 of complications related to pancreatic cancer. As I’ve reflected on and learned more about his life in the weeks since his passing, I realized how much Ken embodied what we’re after in The Life I Want. Over the course of his life, he built an impressive career in public radio—and never let that career compromise his ideals or how he wanted to live.
The legal framework for renewable energy in Germany | Lexology
Market framework Definition of ‘renewable energy’ Is there any legal definition of what constitutes ‘renewable energy’ or ‘clean power’ (or their equivalents) in your jurisdiction?
Future of Work - panel discussion - The Life I Want
Earlier this year I moderated a manel* on the Future of Work at Outpost, one of the co-working spaces in Bali. My panelists were (left to right, above) Nico Krause, who created one of the first co-working spaces in Europe; David Abraham, co-founder of Outpost; and Paul Millerd, creator of Boundless, a community of people who want to reimagine their relationship with work. (*Yes, it was a panel of all men.
Renewable Energy in Germany | Lexology
Use the Lexology Getting The Deal Through tool to compare the answers in this article with those from other jurisdictions. Market framework Government electricity participants Who are the principal government participants in the electricity sector? What roles do they perform in relation to#160;renewable energy? The main regulator for the electricity sector is the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), an independent higher federal authority based in Bonn.
An Iconic Brand, but at What Cost?
Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism by Bartow J. Elmore, Norton, 2015 By all traditional metrics, Coca-Cola Company is one of the world’s most successful businesses: a century of growth, a market cap of more than US$181 billion, a truly global footprint, and one of the world’s most recognizable and valuable brands. But Bartow J. Elmore, an environmental historian at the University of Alabama, would have us believe that the company’s success is illusory.
BP, Goldman Sachs, and Massey could learn a lot from ultimate frisbee
BP's ruptured oil well. Goldman Sachs's financial risk-taking. Massey's mine explosion. With each new corporate calamity, we call for stronger government intervention. But that's like seeing a basketball player throw a punch and demanding more vigilant referees. We shouldn't absolve athletes of responsibility, encouraging them to push the boundaries of acceptable conduct until they get caught. Likewise, we shouldn't depend on government to make business act in the best interests of society.
Can Business Of Any Size Be Good?
In their new book, Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business, Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind argue that the U.S. has over-romanticized mom-and-pop-shops and garage entrepreneurs. They say that we have wrongly allowed small business to capture our hearts, minds, and regulatory favoritism, while it’s big corporations that have driven innovation, raised GDP, and made America the global superpower that it is today.
Commentary: Red Hen, Microsoft and the power of workplace activism
U.S. citizens are finding myriad ways to react to the daily developments in the political landscape: from protesting, to calling their elected representatives, to supporting nonprofits that do advocacy or provide services. Increasingly, though, people are realizing that their most powerful tool is their employer – that they wield more leverage at their desk, terminal or cash register than they do at the ballot box. Corporate activism no longer resides solely in the corner office.
Cómo renunciar sin sentirse mal
No obstante, al final me di permiso de no correr el maratón y me di cuenta de que esto es congruente con el resto de mi vida actual, conforme estoy aprendiendo el arte perdido de renunciar. No me refiero a las increíbles historias fallidas que están tan de moda, esas de los empresarios exitosos que comparten momentos desastrosos como una experiencia de vida para llegar a la madurez con el público de las convenciones mundiales de emprendedores de empresas emergentes que fracasaron.
The Year I Learned to Quit
Plants and animals do not defer dormancy until they cross off just one more thing on their to-do list; they have to shut down in order to live another season. Our hyperactive culture is starting to acknowledge the importance of getting enough sleep and unplugging from our devices. I am working on finding the right balance between literally and metaphorically sitting on the couch, and honoring my need to stay active and channel my energy. I took an art class; I stepped up my fiction reading.
Is There Any Way to Be an Ethical Moviegoer in the Post-Weinstein Era?
Not easily. Right now, the public has no way of knowing how pervasive sexual harassment is at any one company or production. In other industries— oil and gas , apparel and footwear , and tech , for examples—moments of revelation and public outrage have moved companies toward new codes of conduct, processes, and accountability mechanisms. Those initiatives have fielded criticism for not having enough teeth, speed, or reach.
Toward a Corporate World Where Sustainability Is an Expectation, Not a Goal
In this series, I’ve explored how people in different corporate roles and functions can push their companies towards more responsible and sustainable practices. So who has the power to make real and lasting change? As counterintuitive as it may seem, those who are the most effective may be the employees who are the least visible.
Beyond the Chief Sustainability Officer
Yet, in my all my time in the field of corporate social responsibility, I’ve never heard of a CFO who was leading the charge toward more sustainable practices. Nina Gardner, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins who has researched the role of CFOs in driving sustainability, told me this might be changing: “CFOs are starting to see how sustainability affects the risk and resiliency of the company, which requires long-term thinking.” 1.
Whose Job Is It to Prevent Another Rana Plaza?
The people who manage a company’s supply chain determine what a company is made of—or at least what its stuff is made of. It’s hard to imagine a more important role. And it’s a difficult one: Supply chains are increasingly fragmented and tough to manage, as specialization and outsourcing have become standard practice. That experience isn’t limited to sourcing food.
Changing Course - The Atlantic
There’s a saying that managing is like standing in a cemetery: lots of people under you, but no one is listening. To Do Good in the World, Get a Better HR Department Human resources is often thought of as an endless source of bureaucratic hassles, but finding the right people is the beginning of getting any company on a path of positive impact. For many companies, social responsibility seems to come as an afterthought. But if product developers are onboard, it can become the core of a business.
CEOs Aren't as Powerful as Most People Think
The top of the company seems like the obvious place from which to steer a company in a new direction: The boss declares and it is so. Right? Not really. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the CEO can be the most hamstrung employee of all, bearing the weight of the entire organization and living in the crosshairs of impatient investors, skeptical media, customers who talk sustainability but act on price, and middle management waiting for the next leadership transition.
To Do Good in the World, Get a Better HR Department
HR-bashing has been one of the professional world’s most popular pastimes since well before the viral 2005 Fast Company article, “Why We Hate HR,” which summed it all up: The department is seen by many as “a dark bureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change.” But for companies that are trying to change—whether to become better corporate citizens or simply more successful—a smart and flexible HR department is crucial.
The Power of Sustainability-First Design
For many companies, social responsibility seems to come as an afterthought. But if product developers are onboard, it can become the core of a business. Christine Bader May 12, 2015 Lauren Giordano / The Atlantic Paul Dillinger is a fashion designer straight out of central casting: hipster skinny, sporting a knit hat, happily hunched over drawings and his sewing machine alone in his studio.
What Do Chief Sustainability Officers Actually Do?
The country’s first Chief Sustainability Officer was appointed in 2004, at DuPont. Today there are more than three-dozen public U.S. companies with a position with that title, and many more have a senior executive charged with some iteration of sustainability, corporate responsibility, or citizenship. There’s one obvious concern about these roles: Do they matter?
Who Can Push for Change Within a Company?
Innovation and change in business often mean a shiny new product or a “re-branding” with a redesigned logo and an acronym in a sans serif font. But what interests me, as someone who has worked for years in corporate social responsibility, is the sort of innovation that changes how a business does business.
An Iconic Brand, but at What Cost?
By all traditional metrics, Coca-Cola Company is one of the world’s most successful businesses: a century of growth, a market cap of more than US$181 billion, a truly global footprint, and one of the world’s most recognizable and valuable brands. But Bartow J. Elmore, an environmental historian at the University of Alabama, would have us believe that the company’s success is illusory.
Read This Before You Buy Another Holiday Gift (or Goat)
Photo Charities that allow children to give animals to farmers are popular among families. Part of me loves witnessing family conversations this time of year about giving goats to African farmers via organizations like Heifer International and Oxfam instead of flatscreen televisions to ourselves. Our love of stuff is cluttering our homes and minds and destroying our planet, and the world could always use a little redistribution of wealth. But part of me hates it.
Is The MSW The New MBA?
The MBA is now the most popular master’s degree in the U.S., making up one quarter of all such degrees conferred. But a few schools are recognizing that a different course of study might better serve both aspiring business leaders and the world at large: a master’s in social work. The University of Southern California’s School of Social Work just launched a business concentration for its students, and a number of universities now offer joint MBA-MSW degrees.
McDonald’s Already Knows How to Manage Its Franchisee Labor Practices
The National Labor Relations Board ruling on Tuesday that McDonald’s could be held responsible for labor conditions in its franchisees’ operations has business groups and lawyers crying foul. McDonald’s says it will appeal, contesting the determination that it exercises “significant control” over the practices of its franchisees. But McDonald’s is already going through great lengths to ensure good working conditions in the other direction in its value chain. It should do the same for franchisees.
Dov Charney’s Redeeming Quality
This week Dov Charney upped his ownership stake in American Apparel to 43 percent, raising his chances of regaining control of the company he founded. I hope he fails. Given Charney’s well-known track record of sexual harassment and financial mismanagement, my only question to American Apparel's board about their firing him was why it took them so long. But Charney has demonstrated one redeeming quality that makes me sad to see him go: his outspoken support for sweatshop-free manufacturing.
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